Download 2013 May - Type 1 Diabetes Network

yada yada: May 2013
Support, Information and a Voice for the Type 1 Community
In this issue
Diabetes blog week
Flu vaccine
Nick Jonas profile
Driving and diabetes
controversy
Interesting diabetes
science
Quick shots - Hot
topics on our forums
Quick links
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Greetings!
It's hard to believe that it's already time for the May edition of
Yada Yada. The year is flying by.
This month's edition features the massive Diabetes Blog Week
and profiles Nick Jonas. We remind you that with winter here
tomorrow it's time to think about getting a flu vaccine if you
haven't already. As always, we also summarise some of the new
diabetes research and provide you with links to hot topics from
the Reality Check forum and the web.
Remember to check out our Facebook page and Twitter account.
Like or follow us to keep up to date with all things T1DN and
other happenings throughout the month.
Enjoy!
Diabetes Blog Week
Diabetes Blog Week recently ran for the
4th straight year. It's organised by Bittersweet diabetes blogger Karen Graffeo and
this year over 200 bloggers from around
the world (listed here) tackled a different
topic each day.
Topics included what you wish your
health care team knew about your day-to-day life with diabetes,
your most memorable diabetes day, and accomplishments (big or
small). The full list of topics is available here.
The sheer volume of material produced during the week can be
intimidating, but it gives us the warm fuzzies to think of the large
community of people sharing their experiences with diabetes.
The Diabetes Online Community is a rich, vibrant and amazing
place to be. There's too much good content to point you to any
specific posts, but dive in and look around. You could post any
blogs you found impressive or inspiring on Reality Check.
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Flu vaccine reminder
Winter is here - coming early to many parts of
Australia. Unfortunately that means flu
season - so it's important to think about
getting a flu jab if you haven't already done it.
It's already getting a little late as one T1DN
committee member will tell you after going
down with the dreaded lurgy. So now is
definitely the time to organise your shot as
the flu can be really nasty and make T1
particularly difficult to deal with.
Photo by Bill Branson
Some employers provide free flu
vaccinations, so check if your workplace does this. You should
also be able to access a free vaccine from your GP as people
with type 1 are covered under the Immunise Australia Program.
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T1s in the spotlight - Nick Jonas
Some younger Yada Yada readers might
be fans of boy band The Jonas Brothers.
What you may not know is that one of the
brothers - Nick - has type 1 diabetes.
Nick began his singing and acting career
at age six, with roles in Broadway
productions including Les Miserables
and Beauty and the Beast. In 2005, aged
13, he formed The Jonas Brothers with
older brothers Kevin and Joe. Later the
Photo by Brennan Schnell
same year, after several months of losing
weight and constant thirst, he was diagnosed with type 1. It took
a couple of years until the Jonas Brothers popularity surged in
2007 and worldwide concerts with screaming fan girls began.
Nick uses an insulin pump to manage his blood sugars while
touring up to nine months of the year. He wrote the title track of
their third album, A Little Bit Longer, about his feelings towards
T1D.
Nick brings a positive attitude to his diabetes and is passionate
about sharing that positivity with other young people with T1D.
He has a long-standing involvement in diabetes advocacy and
now runs a not-for-profit foundation with his brothers called
Change for the Children to raise awareness about T1D and
funds for research (his brothers each have their own cause).
We think it's fantastic Nick uses his platform to share his common
sense and positivity, and we're looking forward to seeing his
career develop! You can watch Nick in a really frank discussion
about living with diabetes with Larry King in 2011 or read more
about his story at Change for the Children.
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Driving and diabetes
The controversy over Australia's driving and diabetes guidelines
continues. This month UK Professor Brian Frier criticised
Australia's use of HbA1c as a criteria for fitness to drive saying
"I'm really surprised Australia has gone down that road. It's silly,
why should people with high [HbA1c] not be allowed to drive?"
pointing out that there is no research that links HbA1c to driver
safety. Professor Frier was involved in developing driving
guidelines for T1 diabetes in the EU and said that hypos are the
major risk factor for type 1 diabetics while driving and so hypo
history should be used to determine whether they should be
licensed.
Recent diabetes research
Here's a short summary some new research that caught our eye
this month.
The job of making sure our immune systems don't go into
overdrive and attack us is handled by cells called regulatory Tcells. Australian scientists have found a new type of these cells
which produce a protein that may play a role in the autoimmune
attack that triggers type 1 diabetes. People with T1 don't have
many of these cells and when this cell type is removed from
mice, they quickly develop T1. The research is not yet
conclusive, but may lead the way towards new therapeutics to
prevent the onset of T1. The study was published in Nature
Immunology: Abstract.
Researchers at Columbia University
Medical Center found that high
blood sugars are linked to increased
production of a protein called
calprotectin, which can lead to more
plaque clogging the arteries. This
plaque hardens and narrows the
Photo by Brenden Fitzgerald
arteries over time - increasing the
risk of heart attack or stroke. It's the first concrete cause identified
for the well-known increase in heart disease risk for people with
T1 and gives scientists a target to focus on in the important job of
reducing this risk in the future. This research was published in
Cell Metabolism: Abstract.
Interesting links
T1D travel cards with medical info in many different
languages
Disney and Lilly team up with a website to help kids with
type 1 and their parents
JDRF Australia has a survey on the coverage of type 1
diabetes in the media - closes June 14
Story about people with T1 for 25+ years
Quick shots
Hot topics on the Reality Check online forum include:
When do you bolus?
Do you use less supplies to save money?
What value do you get out of DE appointments?
How to have a hypo
Type 1 and Graves
You can keep up to date with what's going on in the diabetes
world by following us on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget you can always send us your
feedback and comments by replying to this email. We'll see you
next time!
From everyone at
The Type 1 Diabetes Network
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